Married at 15

"I now pronounce you Husband and Wife"

July 5th 2021

   Then a man walked in. I had seen him several times before. He was about the same age as my grandparents. He had married off every woman in my family. I dreaded the moment I would have to see him.

   He set a few papers up and then someone brought a large tv.

   I saw three people on the screen. A woman who looked about my parents age. I assumed it was my future husbands mother. She was very beautiful.  She had dark hair almost like mine, but unlike mine it was straight. I saw a boy who had light hair, dyed of course, considering the two women next to him had dark hair. Then a girl. She was gorgeous. She wasn't much older than me I could tell. I assumed it was his sister. I didn't have the courage to look at him for too long so I didn't have much time to take in his features.

   The voice of the man brought me back to reality. He explained what places we had to sign and then handed them to my parents. My grandmother and my parents all signed. Then a few of my uncles and aunts signed as witnesses.

   The papers and pen were then passed to me. I took a deep breath and began signing where I was told to.

   I noticed what I assumed was the boy's signature already on the documents. Then it hit me. He knew about this before. He must have been stressing for longer than me. I then began to feel bad for him. He didn't seem much older than me, he was also losing his teenage years because of an arranged marriage.

                                       Niki's POV

June 10th 2021

   My plane had barley landed. I was coming back to Japan for the summer. Ever since I had started to go to school in Seoul I haven't been able to see my family much so I was very excited.

   I spotted my mother and sister waiting for me. I assumed my father was to busy with work to come. I hugged them as tight as I could.

    "Wow you grew so much" my mother exclaimed in surprise. I hadn't seen them since I was 14. I had grown a lot in the span of a year.

  "You also dyed your hair blonde" my sister noticed. "Yeah" I chuckled nervously hoping my mom wouldn't yell at me for not asking permission first. Luckily she just smiled and ruffled my hair.

   We headed home and ordered some dinner.

   When we finished our food my father entered the house. I was excited to see him but he wasn't a fan of hugs so I just said hi. My mother and father looked at each other and nodded making me confused.

   My mom spoke up "Riki, we have to have a serious talk with you." I felt my heart drop. I hated getting scolded. As if she had read my mind, my mother said "We aren't mad at you it's just a serious topic, it will change your life." That didn't seem much better than getting scolded.

  I nodded as a sign for them to continue. "We are going to need you to marry someone. It is for a business deal your grandfather made to merge company's with someone from Mexico. When she turns 15 you will be married immediately." my father said.  "Why 15?" I asked. "In their family it's a tradition for women to be given away to a man for marriage at 15" my mom explained. I didn't really like how that was worded. 'Given away to a man' made women seem like objects, I definitely didn't want to treat my future wife as an object. I nodded acknowledging my moms explanation.

   My father then handed me some documents and a pen. I began signing them. My parents signatures were already on there but there were a few blank spaces. I assumed they were for the girl and her family's signatures. I finished signing and then my mother hugged me.

   "I know this is gonna be hard, but you'll get through it" she said. Most people would have been sad. I surprisingly wasn't.

   I'm a very extroverted person, but when it comes to love I'm not the best at expressing my feelings. I've had crushes before but I could never build up the courage to confess. With this girl it didn't have to be that way. We're destined to fall in love. Right?

                                 3rd person POV

July 5th 2021 (11:55)

   Nani was almost done signing. Her hand hurt already. When she was about to sign in the last spot she was told to stop.

July 6th 2021 (12:00)

   She was now officially 15. She was told to sign in the last spot.

   Both Niki and Nani looked at each other and then back at the man marrying them.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife"

   Their hearts stopped. But for two very different reasons.

   Niki was unbelievably happy. He was now married to this girl. A guaranteed soulmate he thought. She was beautiful. He had been told about her features but seeing her was even better. He tried his best to contain his smile, but a small one still ended up showing. He was very excited for the memories they were gonna make together

   Nani's heart stopped for a different reason. She had barely reunited with her family and now she was going to leave them again. She wasn't only leaving the country this time but the continent. She had to leave her friends from school and Isabella. She needed to learn a new culture. Even though she knew some Japanese, she had to learn Korean since her and Niki would move to Korea for school once summer was over. She couldn't stop thinking of the memories she wouldn't be able to make.

                                    Nani's POV

"Go to our house, we leave in a few minutes" my mother said. I just nodded and headed to my house finally letting all my tears fall. Isabella was behind me. When she saw me crying she hugged me and cried with me. This was definitely not how a person is supposed to feel when they get married.

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Hope you enjoyed this chapter. A new chapter will be out soon. ☺️